1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to a device intended to produce a continuous passive motion that is generally referred to as "CPM", which corresponds to the abbreviation of the English expression "Continuous Passive Motion". Such device is frequently used in the physical and functional rehabilitation of the jointed limbs of a patient. This invention is specifically intended to be used as a device that will allow the lower limb of a person to undergo forced bending-stretching motions.
2. Description of the Related Art
This invention pertains to a device intended to produce a continuous passive motion that is generally referred to as "CPM", which corresponds to the abbreviation of the English expression "Continuous Passive Motion". Such device is frequently used in the physical and functional rehabilitation of the jointed limbs of a patient. This invention is specifically intended to be used as a device that will allow the lower limb of a person to undergo forced bending-stretching motions.
A treatment that is often prescribed for the rehabilitation of limbs, in particular the lower limbs, is the rehabilitating mobilization that consists in subjecting the limb to be rehabilitated to forced bending-stretching exercises according to programs that involve mobilization cycles where the frequency, amplitude and speed can be adjusted. However, a patient may not have the required muscular power or capacity to actively control the alternating bending and stretching of a limb. That is why a rehabilitation method is recommended which involves the passive motion of the limb to be rehabilitated by applying external forces to the limb.
Such passive motion can be applied manually by experienced therapists, but this method requires a true and comprehensive knowledge of human anatomy and involves a significant physical effort. Therefore, such passive motion is frequently applied to the limb to be rehabilitated through a device, generally referred to as a splint, capable of imposing adjusted bending-stretching cycles on the limb to be rehabilitated.
The previously described method proposed a relatively high number of technical solutions to build such devices.
One of the disadvantages of the CPM devices used in accordance with the previously described method is the fact that they are generally bulky, while a full bending-stretching motion is required for the splint of a lower limb that consists of long jointed segments. Such bulkiness can hinder the implementation, which involves the placement of such device directly on the mattress of the patient's bed.
Another disadvantage is due to the fact that such devices arc generally driven by one or several direct drive units, which requires a motor output that is sufficient to maintain a mechanization that is always adequate for the mass of the limb to be moved. Consequently, this requirement calls for motors that burden the device and increase its bulkiness.
Another disadvantage concerns the degree of difficulty, or even impossibility, encountered when adjustments are made to match the proximal joint axis of the device with the coxofemoral joint of the limb to be rehabilitated, which applies to all anatomical configurations and all limb lengths that may be encountered. However, it is recognized that such requirement conditions the application of the passive rehabilitating motions imposed on the limb to be rehabilitated, without any induced residual physical stress.
The purpose of the invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned disadvantages by proposing a CPM device which must also be readily adaptable to either a right or left limb, offering the same anatomical adjustability.